Tim Bradley thinks highly-rated lightweight contender William Zepeda could lose to Tevin Farmer next month in their ten-round fight on ‘Latino Night’ on November 16 at The Venue in Riyadh.
The 34-year-old Farmer (33-6-1, 8 KOs) is a slick former IBF super featherweight champion coming off a competitive ten-round unanimous decision loss to Raymond Muratalla on July 13 in Paradise, Nevada.
WBC lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson is expected to be next for Zepeda if he prevails against Farmer and looks good to do so. If he loses, then that fight is off the table.
Zepeda has looked impressive recently, scoring knockouts against these fighters:
– Giovanni Cabrera
– Maxi Hughes
– Mercito Gesta
– Jaime Arboleda
I’d prefer Hughes and Cabrera over Farmer. Those guys would be a big problem for him in his career. Commentator Bradley believes Farmer has enough at this point in his 13-year career to possibly defeat Zepeda (31-0, 27 KOs). I don’t agree with that.
It’s going to be another demolition job for Zepeda who might be done by the fourth unless Farmer moves non-stop. That’s not how Boer fights.
It would be a huge blow to Golden Boy promoted Zepeda’s career as he is ranked No. 1 by all four sanctioning bodies at lightweight and is set to challenge WBC champion Shakur Stevenson next February.
“If Zepeda can blow Farmer away, it’s a super statement, because I don’t think Farmer just shows up for a payday. Boer still shows up to win. It’s how he’s built and the character he has. He’s not spineless, and when he shows up in the ring, he shows up to win,” said Paulie Malignaggi. Probox TVtalking about William Zepeda’s fight against Tevin Farmer on the November 16th ‘Latino Night’ in Riyadh.
Before Farmer’s loss last July to the highly hyped Raymond Muratalla, he had won three straight since losing to Joseph Diaz in 2020. Farmer is still in his prime. But his problem is he’s fighting out of his natural weight class and against a big puncher in Zepeda.
“I like this fight because it can show us any shortcomings in Zepeda’s style. Yes, he’s a two-fisted destroyer, but could he be more against a guy with the guile and character of Tevin Farmer? That’s why this fight is really interesting,” said Malignaggi.
Boer will sometimes make Zepeda look bad early on, but once he’s warmed up with the third, it’s going to end soon after. Boer will not be able to take the shots that Zepeda heats him up with without falling apart.
“You expect Zepeda to win because Farmer is on the other side of his peak,” Malignaggi said. “But you don’t expect it to be as much of a walk-through as Zepeda did to these other guys.
“If he can blow right through Farmer like he did against these other guys, then that makes it more of a profound statement. He’s knocking on the door for a title shot. He is the mandatory in all four (sanctioning bodies). A title shot like that should be around the corner soon,” Malignaggi said of Zepeda.
“It can backfire. I know what Golden Boy is trying to do, but Farmer is tough,” said Tim Bradley, who thinks Zepeda could lose. “This guy can win this fight. I could see it.”
There is nothing Farmer has that will stop Zepeda from walking him down and picking him apart early in this fight. Boer is too weak to fight a puncher like Zepeda at lightweight.
“Zepeda is the kind of shrimp (Mantis) that kills you. I saw it on one of the National Geographic specials,” Malignaggi said of Zepeda’s nickname, ‘Camaron.’ “Zepeda is one of those types of shrimp. He is an attacker. I’m not big on science, but there is a shrimp that is straight up dead (Mantis Shrimp). I’m talking about a shrimp where you die. Zepeda is that kind of shrimp.”
Zepeda shouldn’t have any problems with the 34-year-old Boer, but it’s going to take a few rounds for him to warm up before he starts unloading on him with combinations.
